


can't conceal it, don't you see

by seeingrightly



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Post-Movie: Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 02:57:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seeingrightly/pseuds/seeingrightly
Summary: It’s not as though they initiated this plan on purpose; everyone else had simply assumed, based on their reactions to one another, once Newt was free. And they were used to those kinds of reactions, though it had been a while, and didn’t bother to correct anyone. The shared room had been prepared for them without their asking, and of course Hermann had been planning anyway to keep as close an eye on Newt as possible, to take full responsibility for him.It was only once Jake Pentecost and Nate Lambert and the other children in charge started talking about monitoring Newt, putting him into intense therapy, keeping him on lockdown while they made sure everything was back to normal, that Hermann realized he needed to guarantee that they would take his perspective into consideration when they made decisions about Newt.or: the post-uprising fake relationship/legally married for convenience fic no one asked for





	can't conceal it, don't you see

**Author's Note:**

> title from abba's "i do, i do, i do, i do, i do"

 

 

 

When Hermann wakes up, his face is pressed against Newt’s hair, and his arm is entirely asleep where Newt lies on top of it. His other arm is curled against Newt’s chest and held in place. They’d learned quickly, once they moved into a bigger room and started sharing a bed, that Newt sleeps best this way now, has fewer nightmares when he can feel that Hermann is there.

It won’t be possible for him to get up without waking Newt, something he tries very hard not to do. It’s not as though Jake Pentecost, the only person he has to answer to these days, cares what time Hermann shows up to the lab, as long as there are results. And so he brushes his nose against the crown of Newt’s head and settles back in to doze some more. It’s early, still, anyway.

Some time later, Newt begins to move in his arms, yawning and rolling back toward and nearly on top of Hermann.

“Morning,” Newt says muzzily. 

“Good morning,” Hermann replies, blinking himself back into consciousness. “Can I have my arm back, dear?”

“No,” Newt says, but he sits up just enough that Hermann can retrieve it, then rolls over so they’re face to face, still pressed close together. “I’m all sweaty. Dude, either you gotta let me turn the air down a little before bed or you gotta rethink the pajama policy.”

Hermann can’t help the face he makes. He’ll freeze if he has to adjust the temperature, but he couldn’t possibly deal with Newt, shirtless, sleeping in his arms, every night. It’s already difficult enough to live with him, to form these routines with him, and know they’re a means to an end rather than genuine.

“Sorry,” Newt says, “sorry, I’ll debate you when we’re awake, forget it.”

Newt apologizes frequently now, and Hermann rather hates it. It’s one of the hardest parts of all of this to get used to, in fact, much harder than all of the touching and checking up on one another, though it’s never clear how much of that is a result of all they’ve been through and how much of it is a result of the show they’re putting on.

It’s not as though they initiated this plan on purpose; everyone else had simply assumed, based on their reactions to one another, once Newt was free. And they were used to those kinds of reactions, though it had been a while, and didn’t bother to correct anyone. The shared room had been prepared for them without their asking, and of course Hermann had been planning anyway to keep as close an eye on Newt as possible, to take full responsibility for him.

It was only once Jake Pentecost and Nate Lambert and the other children in charge started talking about monitoring Newt, putting him into intense therapy, keeping him on lockdown while they made sure everything was back to normal, that Hermann realized he needed to guarantee that they would take his perspective into consideration when they made decisions about Newt.

“Newton,” he’d said, sitting side by side with him for the first time on the bed they were to share.

“Yeah?” Newt answered, quiet and hoarse, tired but so happy to be there with him.

“Newton, I need to make sure they include me in the decisions they make about you,” Hermann said, not looking at him. “We haven’t said anything about the assumptions they’ve made about us but I think we need to - I think we need to make sure I have an official claim. A legal one.”

Newt had turned to him, narrowing his eyes.

“That’s a shitty proposal, dude,” he said.

“I’ve been a bit busy to go get a ring,” Hermann snapped, embarrassed, and Newt choked.

“I was  _ joking _ ,” he said. “Is that really what you were -”

“Yes,” Hermann said, tired and serious. “If you’ll allow it.”

“Huh,” Newt said, quiet. “You’re already going above and beyond, man. I’m not gonna stop you, but, like, are you sure you wanna… be even more stuck with me?”

“Yes,” Hermann said, knowing he didn’t need to voice that he was making up for the years he was stuck without him.

“Huh,” Newt had said again, knocking their shoulders together. “Yeah, okay, why not? Let’s get married.”

 

Their morning is routine is practically set in stone, a few months into cohabitation. Hermann gets ready in the toilet first, and then Newt, and then they dress side by side. They hand one another whatever they happen to be closer to, fixing one another’s rumpled collars, Newt getting down on his knees to rescue whatever’s ended up under the bed each morning. Then they head to the mess hall together, Newt shoving some combination of books and tablets under one of his arms, their free hands linked between them.

It’s very different from before, during the first war, and obviously very different from during the second one. They’re into the third one now, Hermann knows, and he still has a job to do, but his priorities have shifted. He’s not going to rush himself. He’s going to read across from Newt while they eat, talk about the research they’re catching up on.

Newt squints as he reads his tablet this morning. Hermann is quietly hoping that the lasik is wearing off. While he reads, Newt sneaks a had across the table to take a piece of toast from Hermann’s tray, and when Hermann makes a low, reproachful noise, Newt reaches instead across the table to grab his hand, still looking at his tablet.

“I’m using that,” Hermann says.

“What, you can’t put your tablet down for two seconds to eat with that hand?” Newt asks.

“No, in fact, that is not a sacrifice I’m willing to make for you,” Hermann sniffs, entirely joking, but an expression of guilt still crosses Newt’s face.

He starts to pull his hand away, but Hermann holds his fingers tightly.

“No,” Hermann says. “Stop that.”

“There  _ should _ be limitations to what you’re willing to do for me,” Newt says quietly, looking down at the table.

“There are,” Hermann says. “Have I turned the air down even once?”

Newt smiles, a frustrated, genuine, beautiful little smile, and his hand relaxes in Hermann’s. After a few minutes of reading in peace, Hermann does, in fact, put down his tablet to pick up a piece of toast. When Newt looks up, Hermann holds it out, and he leans forward to take a bite, his eyes warm.

In these moments, Hermann hates himself. He knew, before, after they drifted, that Newt had feelings for him. He doesn’t know, now, how Newt feels, but he knows Newt isn’t ready to deal with that, and he knows he shouldn’t let his own feelings show. He shouldn’t fall too hard into these patterns and routines, the kinds they’d just barely begun slipping into before Newt left, the kind he won’t want to adjust to a life without again.

But Newt leans into them, into Hermann, so easily, and Hermann wants to be that for him, wants to be everything for him. He wants to be whatever Newt needs; he just also wants Newt to need him in a very particular way he doesn’t know if he’s going to get.

The mess hall isn’t particularly crowded, as it’s a bit on the later side, and it gets emptier as they finish up their breakfast, but their hands stay linked. 

 

There’s some time before Newt has to head to his appointments with his doctors, so he comes with Hermann to the lab. They spend a lot of their time there together, though Newt isn’t allowed to work yet. He’ll read, or take notes for projects he wants to work on in the future, or annoy Hermann into working on something for him.

He stands practically up against Hermann’s back and watches over his shoulder as he checks up on samples from the day before. He’s testing his kaiju blood rocket fuel, different mixtures and different prep times, to see which is most efficient and which is most controlled. 

“I can’t wait to work together for real now that we know each other’s expertise,” Newt says quietly, resting his chin on Hermann’s shoulder.

“It’s going to be a disaster,” Hermann says fondly, reaching behind himself to pat Newt’s hip.

Newt laughs and some of the tension leaves his body, and he leans up against Hermann more fully for a moment before he pulls away. Hermann shouldn’t chase the contact, but he does, stepping away from the desk with the samples to lean against another one, reaching out for Newt. Without pause, Newt tucks into his side, leaning more heavily against him than he expected. Hermann brings an arm around him.

“Are you alright, darling?”

“Yeah,” Newt says, “just tired. Took me a while to fall asleep last night.”

“You should have woken me,” Hermann says, concerned, and Newt curls toward him, bringing his arms around his waist.

“I wasn’t freaking out or anything,” Newt says, soothing. “I really just couldn’t fall asleep. You being awake too wouldn’t have changed that, come on, babe.”

A thrill runs through Hermann then, though he feels guilty about it. Newt usually calls him pet names around others and hasn’t slipped up nearly as much as Hermann has. Then again, Hermann had started using them before their ruse began, as soon as he’d been able to talk directly to Newt again, to care for him.

“Still,” Hermann says stubbornly, pressing his mouth to the side of Newt’s head, not a kiss, just something grounding for both of them, he thinks, based on the way Newt’s hand runs once up and down his side.

Hermann is a fool. Newt will, at some point, no longer be under lockdown and supervision, and he’ll be healthy, and he won’t need to lean on Hermann like this. He won’t require a marriage of convenience and legal protection. It’s impossible to imagine that all of this will go away, that their relationship hasn’t shifted permanently; it’s possible that Newt will want to shift their relationship into something bright and new at some point in the future. 

But Hermann has no idea what it will look like when the day comes that Newt is set fully free. He has no idea how much of this will stop. And so he clings while he can.

 

When it’s time for Newt to go meet with his doctors, Hermann decides to walk him there. He’d like to grab a cup of tea and a snack from the mess hall, and Newt has been particularly clingy this morning, due to being tired, presumably, so Hermann is hesitant to separate from him.

They have to take a lift to get to the medical wing, and the one they end up on is crowded. They get pressed into a corner, so that their linked arms and their sides get pressed tightly together. Hermann doesn’t think Newt’s been in such a confined space since he’s gotten him back; there’s no particular reason to suspect it’ll be an issue, but that’s been true of plenty of other things that did turn out to cause him trouble.

“Are you alright?” Hermann asks as quietly as he can, turning his face down to Newt in the cramped space.

“Yeah,” Newt whispers back, though he’s never been particularly good at whispering. “Thanks.”

Newt rests his chin on Hermann’s shoulder, looking up at him with an open, fond expression, the kind that makes Hermann hopeful enough that it hurts. Hermann smiles, though not nearly as broadly or as brightly as he wants to, and turns away.

As they make their way out of the lift, the hallway is crowded as well, which makes Hermann’s stomach do something funny. Their good-bye outside of medical is going to be performative, then, something Hermann wants but not how he wants it. Sure enough, before Newt slips his arm out of Hermann’s, Newt leans up and kisses him on the cheek.

“Thanks for walking me, sap,” he says. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

“See you then, dear,” Hermann replies, a bit unsteady.

Newt never seems ruffled by any of it. It’s difficult not to read into his comfort with all of this, but Hermann can’t allow himself to think that way.

 

Newt doesn’t show up to lunch. This has happened before, after difficult sessions, but usually Newt makes sure someone tells Hermann not to expect him, or where Hermann should come find him. This time there is nothing.

Hermann makes himself eat most of his meal and grab a few things for Newt that he can easily fit into his pockets before he ventures out to find him. There are a few obvious places he checks first - the roof, some hidden corners in the hall that hosts the jaegers - before he stops into the lab and then goes back to the medical wing.

“Dr. Gottlieb,” says the first person he sees, a frazzled-looking young woman who he doesn’t know personally. “Newt left a while ago. Said he was going to talk to you.”

Hermann frowns.

“Thank you,” he says belatedly as he turns to leave.

Newt either lied and is really trying to avoid Hermann, for some reason, or he’s in the most obvious place of all, their room. He hurries to check as quickly as the lift will take him.

 

When Hermann opens the door to their room, he immediately spots Newt sitting on the couch. One of his legs is curled up against his chest, even though he still has his boots on, and he’s staring at the opposite wall.

“Newton?” he asks, closing the door behind him.

Newt jumps a little and turns to look at him blankly.

“Newton?” he asks again. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Newt says, but he doesn’t continue, so Hermann walks over to the couch and sits down next to him, a few inches between them, and places a hand on his knee, the one pressed against his chest.

“I brought you something to eat,” Hermann says, emptying his pockets with his other hand and putting the offerings on the table in front of them.

Newt smiles a little distantly and leans toward Hermann.

“Thanks, dude,” he says, sounding more present. “I’m not hungry yet but I’ll eat it in a bit - oh.”

He realizes, suddenly, that he has his boot on the couch, and he lowers his leg. Rather than letting Hermann’s hand fall, he grabs it and holds it against his chest. Hermann curls his fingers around Newt’s.

“What’s  _ wrong _ , darling?” Hermann asks.

“They told me I’m free from supervision,” Newt says slowly. “I can go back to work and I don’t have to meet with them every day anymore. I know it’s a good thing, but I - it’s a lot to process, you know?”

“Yes,” Hermann says carefully, “that is a lot to process.”

He turns further toward Newt, bring his free hand to rest on his leg. This is not about him, and it will only become about him when Newt decides to bring up what this means for their relationship.

“What can I do?” Hermann asks.

“Nothing,” Newt says, and then he turns to Hermann, shaking his head. “I mean, nothing you’re not already doing.”

“If you’re sure,” Hermann says, and Newt leans forward and rests his forehead against Hermann’s shoulder.

“I’m sure,” he says, his voice slightly muffled. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, dude.”

Hermann moves his hand to the back of Newt’s neck. That wasn’t exactly a declaration that Newt wants everything to stay the same, but it certainly wasn’t a request for change, so at least Hermann doesn’t have to immediately panic about his behavior.

“Why don’t you eat something?” Hermann asks. “You might feel better.”

“Yeah, okay,” Newt says, pulling away from Hermann and letting go of his hand. “I’ll try. Shouldn’t you get back to work?”

“Not if you need me here.”

“No, you should go back to work,” Newt says, starting to dig through the food Hermann brought.

“Aright,” Hermann says, though he doesn’t get up yet.

“I’ll be fine,” Newt says, but then he hesitates, looks at Hermann out of the corner of his eye, his next words not quite as confident. “I’ll be fine as long as I have you.”

The statement doesn’t exactly make sense in context - Hermann’s been insisting he stay, not trying to leave - but it is a relief to see some uncertainty about their relationship in Newt as well.

“Of course you have me, dear,” Hermann says immediately, without pausing to consider the pet name even though the situation has changed.

Newt visibly relaxes, and he pushes at Hermann’s arm gently.

“Go,” Newt says, but he’s smiling, and though things are still up in the air, Hermann doesn’t feel as unsettled as he leaves.

 

Hermann startles when someone knocks on the door of his lab. He’s gotten wrapped up in his project and forgotten to pay attention to the time, which isn’t unusual, so Newt doesn’t look unhappy or surprised when Hermann turns to see him.

“Dinner time,” Newt says, leaning against the doorframe.

“Of course,” Hermann says. “Would you mind waiting while I clean up and write up some notes?”

“Wanna dictate to me while you clean up?” Newt asks, stepping into the lab.

“Ah, your last duty as my lab assistant,” Hermann says, and Newt makes a face at him as he sits down in front of a computer.

Newt seems calmer than he’d been earlier. Hermann wants to ask how he is, what this means for them, but he can’t bring himself to do it. As they work, Hermann can’t tell if things are actually uncomfortable and stilted or if he’s just imagining it; he can’t tell if he’s making them that way with his own discomfort. As they head out of the lab and to the mess hall, though, Newt grabs his hand and smiles at him when Hermann squeezes his fingers gently.

Several of the cadets sit down with them a few minutes into dinner, and Hermann is relieved, though he feels bad about it. Newt talks to the cadets all throughout dinner, with more energy than Hermann’s seen from him all day. It seems like nervous energy, which Hermann could read in many different ways, so he tries not to read into it at all, except to note that he’s likely not alone in being worried about the conversation they must have.

Instead, he focuses on how animated Newt is when he speaks, how he gestures with his hands, with his whole body really, how the pitch of his voice fluctuates through each sentence. He focuses on how Newt’s styled hair is wilting on one side and how his collar is crooked and how he missed a patch on his jaw the last time he shaved. Things Hermann didn’t have at all, not so long ago. Things he’ll get to keep, in some capacity, forever. He focuses on his certainty in that.

After they finish eating, Newt gets up and grabs both of their trays to return them. As Hermann watches him go, he panics for a moment, and then makes a decision, grabbing his cane and standing.

“I’m going to get a bit more work done tonight,” he says when Newt returns.

“Okay,” Newt says, his expression and his tone neutral. “I’ll come get you if you stay up too late.”

“I won’t,” Hermann says reassuringly, though he knows it’s more likely that Newt will fall into a cranky half-asleep state while waiting for him than show up at the lab.

“Alright, see you later,” Newt says, squeezing Hermann’s arm. “I think I’m gonna hang out here for a bit longer.”

Hermann can’t help but linger and give Newt a proud smile. He’s gotten so much more comfortable with socializing again over the past few months, particularly with the cadets, who are endlessly curious about him. 

“Good. That’s good,” Hermann says finally, and then he makes himself head back to his lab.

 

It’s not entirely intentional, but Hermann does work late enough that Newt is in bed when he gets back to their room. He hadn’t been paying attention to the time, but once he’d noticed it, he had hoped Newt would be asleep when he got back. Newt’s only halfway there, though, and he rolls over when Hermann comes into the bedroom as quietly as he can.

“Sorry,” Hermann whispers, toeing off his shoes. “Go to sleep, Newton.”

“Like I’m not gonna wait when you’re right there,” Newt mumbles, annoyed, and Hermann huffs out a laugh.

Newt does fall mostly back asleep as Hermann changes and uses the toilet, but when he climbs into bed Newt rouses again, moving himself into position.

“Much better,” Newt says under his breath, and Hermann tightens his arms around him.

He presses his forehead against the crown of Newt’s head. He expected to have a hard time sleeping tonight, but sleeping this way is just as soothing for him, and Newt is stroking his thumb along Hermann’s knuckles, and he finds himself growing sleepy quickly.

“Hermann?” Newt asks suddenly, and Hermann flinches back awake.

“Yes?” he manages to ask after a moment of confusion.

His mind runs through all of the things that could be wrong, all of the reasons why Newt could have woken him, before he remembers what had happened earlier in the day and a sense of dread pours through his body, leaving him cold.

“Oh,” Newt says, guilty. “Never mind. Go to sleep.”

“No, no,” Hermann says more clearly, even though he’s not sure he wants to hear the answer. “What is it?”

Newt is quiet for a long time, and very still in Hermann’s arms, still in a way he hardly ever manages to be.

“I don’t want to get divorced,” Newt says all in a rush.

“You don’t?” Hermann asks after a moment, and his voice is raw and rough and hopeful.

Newt breathes out a harsh breath and grasps tightly at Hermann’s hand against his chest.

“You haven’t been pretending,” Newt says, not even a question, his voice relieved and thin.

“No,” Hermann says quietly, speaking against Newt’s hair. “I’ve meant all of it.”

Newt lets out another breath, and then inhales shakily, choking. He’s not crying, but he might. Hermann wraps himself around Newt as best he can.

“I thought,” Newt says, barely intelligible, “I  _ thought _ you loved me but I wasn’t sure. And I was so scared to be wrong.”

“Oh, I know, dearest,” Hermann says, barely processing his own words, trying to fold Newt into himself, “I know. But you were right, I do. I have.”

Newt shakes in his arms, and Hermann makes soothing noises and holds him tightly, ignoring the way that he’s shaking himself. They’ve been in this position many times, Hermann calming Newt, calming both of them, curled up together in the safety of their bed. The cause is entirely new - the cause is something they’ll have to truly deal with in the morning - but the familiarity of the rest of it means it isn’t difficult for either of them to sink into sleep after all.

 

In the morning, Hermann is unsurprised to wake up first. He lets himself lie in bed and look at Newt for a long time. They really haven’t talked about anything, but still, it’s all shifted.

He’s able to get out of bed without disturbing Newt, and he gets ready for the day and sits down to attempt read a bit, though he doubts he’ll manage much. He hasn’t been there for too long, thankfully, when Newt emerges.

“Morning,” Newt mumbles on his way to the toilet.

Hermann can hear him brushing his teeth, and he finds it increasingly difficult to focus on reading. When Newt comes back out, Hermann keeps his eyes on the tablet, looking up when Newt places one hand on the desk and the other on Hermann’s shoulder. He bends down, and Hermann leans up to meet him, reaching up to cup Newt’s jaw with a shaking hand. The kiss is simple and sweet. Newt sighs into it, and Hermann’s restraint evaporates. He sets down his tablet and gently grabs Newt’s waist, pulling him down to sit sideways across Hermann’s lap.

“Good morning,” Hermann says finally, and Newt laughs against his mouth as he moves in for another kiss, this one lingering.

He wraps his arms around Hermann’s neck, keeping them there as he pulls back from the kiss.

“Hey,” Newt says, his voice unsteady, his eyes darting between Hermann’s lips and his eyes. “Did you know I’ve been in love with you for ages?”

“I’d suspected,” Hermann says, running his hands up and down the length of Newt’s back. “But I wasn’t sure.”

“I know the feeling, buddy,” Newt says, his smile bittersweet.

“Well, you were right as well. I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.”

“You know what’s cool?” Newt says, and his tone is teasing, but Hermann can sense nerves underneath. “We’re in love and we’re married.”

“Funny how that worked out,” Hermann agrees, trying to tease in kind, but the smile drops off of his face. “Newton, did you mean what you said?”

“Yeah... I know we did everything out of order, but -”

“I already told you I’ve meant everything I’ve said and done, Newton,” Hermann interrupts. “As long as you have too, that’s all that matters to me.”

Newt nods, bringing up a hand to run it through the short hair at the nape of Hermann’s neck.

“I have. I thought it was too good to be true, to get to marry you after everything, even if it was fake. But now…”

Newt shakes his head, then leans forward to press his face against the side of Hermann’s head, his breath catching.

“Darling, don’t cry,” Hermann says, rubbing his back again, and something, maybe the pet name, snaps Newt out of it.

He pulls away, looking at Hermann with wide eyes, cupping Hermann’s face.

“Dude, we’re  _ married _ ,” he says. “Like, how do we transition from fake married to real married? We haven’t even made out yet. Put your tongue in my mouth.”

Newt leans forward, and Hermann manages to get a hand up in time to stop him, though his palm does get licked for his troubles.

“Newton,” he grumbles, wiping his hand on his pants, but he brings his hand back up to the side of Newt’s face to keep him at an acceptable distance for talking. “I honestly don’t think we need to change much. We’ve both been acting naturally.”

“True,” Newt says, his expression going soft. “Hey, can I take you on a date? Now that I’m, like, allowed to go outside of the Shatterdome unsupervised.”

“Oh,” Hermann says, and, horribly, he feels his face heat up. “That would be lovely.”

Newt brings a hand to his face, brushing a thumb along his cheekbone. His expression is terribly fond and the closest Hermann has seen it to the kind of joy Newt often expressed before everything went wrong.

“We’ve been focused on me,” Newt says, quiet and serious, still looking at the blush under his fingertips, “but babe, I’m gonna make you so happy.”

“You already have,” Hermann protests, but Newt shakes his head.

“No, shh, listen,” he says urgently, leaning in to kiss Hermann quick and hard. “I mean it. I’ve been in your head, dude. I know you don’t  _ need _ it, but everything you’ve ever wanted, all the shit you never got - flowers and love notes and date nights for every stupid little anniversary? I’m gonna do that for you.”

“ _ Newton _ ,” Hermann says, and his voice cracks and his vision blurs, but he clears his throat so he can still speak. “I know we’re already married, but do you think it’s too forward to go buy rings on our first date?”

Newt laughs, but it’s a strained sound, and Hermann suspects that he would see tears in Newt’s eyes, too, if he could see past his own. Newt brings their foreheads together and cradles the back of Hermann’s head and they both close their eyes, sniffling.

“I don’t think it’s too forward,” Newt says. “I think it’s perfect.”

He moves forward to kiss Hermann again, and it’s a little unpleasant and Hermann can no longer breathe through his nose, but he leans into Newt anyway.

 

When Hermann wakes up, he’s disoriented. It doesn’t take him long to adjust, though. He’s lying on his side with Newt curled around him from behind, and Newt is resting his tablet on Hermann’s shoulder so he can scroll through it comfortably.

“Good morning,” Hermann mumbles, and Newt leans forward to kiss the back of his head, one corner of his glasses tapping against Hermann’s ear.

“Morning, honey,” Newt says. “Happy anniversary.”

“Oh, anniversary of what this time?” Hermann asks as he rubs sleep out of his eyes.

He grabs Newt’s tablet and then rolls onto his back, pulling Newt onto his chest and handing it back.

“I don’t know,” Newt says, his eyes on the screen but a smirk that he can’t hide spreading across his face. “It’s just been, like, a whole month and a half since we’ve had one. I got bored.”

“You’re a menace,” Hermann says, but he turns the tablet toward himself so he can see the date.

He’s fairly certain nothing important for them actually happened on this date. Something important  _ did _ happen exactly eleven months ago, though.

“I have an idea,” Hermann says slowly, aware that he’s not entirely awake yet.

Newt puts the tablet down and turns toward him, his expression fond and interested and patient as he runs his hand across Hermann’s chest.

“Marry me,” Hermann says. “A real wedding this time. A small one, but a real one, where we openly love each other.”

He can feel Newt’s breath hitch where they’re pressed together.

“Oh,” Newt says softly. “Wow. Yes. Yeah. That sounds - I really want that.”

“You do?” Hermann asks, a smile spreading across his face, and Newt smiles back at him.

“Yeah,” he says. “I definitely do.”

Newt shifts to kiss Hermann, but before their lips meet, he starts to laugh, collapsing back against Hermann’s chest.

“What is it?” Hermann asks.

“I was right,” Newt says. “We just didn’t have an anniversary on this day  _ yet _ . But now we do.”

“Oh, fine,” Hermann replies. “Happy one-minute anniversary of my second proposal to you, dearest.”

“God, I love you,” Newt says, practically into his mouth. “Let’s keep getting married every year forever.”

“That’s not very practical,” Hermann protests, but he’s happy to be cut off by Newt’s lips again and again and again.

It’s better that Newt stops him from talking, because he knows it wouldn’t take much to convince him to agree to the plan.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [ch3ry1b10ss0m](https://www.ch3ry1b10ss0m.tumblr.com) and twitter at [coralbluenmbr5](https://www.twitter.com/coralbluenmbr5)


End file.
